Waze, a company owned by Google, has started testing a new carpooling service in the San Francisco Bay Area. The test in the Bay Area follows a similar pilot that the company conducted in Israel last year. The service can be accessed using the Waze Rider app that’s available for both iOS and Android, currently users can only join if they receive an invite.
Waze’s carpooling service is limited to the employees of a small group of companies at this point in time. Employers and workers who don’t happen to be those companies can register here to show their interest to take part in this service.
Those who are eligible to join can opt into the carpooling program through the Waze app. They will first have to create a driver profile and will then be able to accept ride requests in the Bay Area.
It’s unclear how long the company is looking to run this test before it opens up the service to more people in the city. Waze hasn’t provided a confirmed timeline so one can only speculate right now.
Waze started off as a network that allowed people to share real-time traffic data, making it easier for fellow users to avoid routes where they could get stuck for a long period of time. Google acquired the company back in 2013 for $1 billion.
A lot of companies are interested in the carpooling business, with ride-sharing companies like Lyft and Uber encouraging users to share rides as well, it seems only natural for Waze to expand into this area as well.